Montebello Unified School District

The holidays are a little brighter for dozens of Montebello Unified students and families identified as homeless, as parents picked out gifts of toys, books, school supplies, dental kits, gift cards and canned hams to give to their children as part of MUSD’s inaugural Families in Transition Gift Giveaway on Dec. 9 at Laguna Nueva School. The Families in Transition Program mission is to provide MUSD’s 972 identified homeless students and their families with support services to promote academic achievement.

Montebello Unified’s Bell Gardens High School has been revalidated by AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) as a National Demonstration School, which recognizes schools that have successfully implemented the AVID College Readiness System as models for other schools. AVID was brought to BGHS in 1998 and served 32 students. The school was first deemed a National Demonstration School in 2004 and now serves about 600 students annually. BGHS has a 100 percent AVID graduation rate, conferring diplomas to all 112 AVID seniors in the Class of 2016. The AVID system has impacted the entire student population at BGHS by creating a college-going culture supported by schoolwide AVID instructional strategies and practices.

More than 600 intermediate and high school students from Montebello Unified learned from professionals about higher education, careers and personal development during the sixth annual Adelante Young Men! Conference (AYM) at Pasadena City College. The AYM Conference offered intermediate and high school boys the opportunity to take part in interactive, educational workshops related to issues that affect their lives now and in the future. Interim Superintendent of Schools Dr. Anthony J. Martinez served as the AYM 2016 Conference Chair and presenter while Applied Technology Center students Christian Osorio and Mark Hernandez also presented during the Nov. 12 event.

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Montebello Unified School District operates 16 elementary schools, two K-8 schools, six intermediate schools, four comprehensive high schools, one continuation high school, as well as Head Start and adult school programs. The district serves a diverse student population from the cities of Bell Gardens, Commerce, Montebello, and portions of Downey, Los Angeles, Monterey Park, Pico Rivera, Rosemead and South San Gabriel.

50 Montebello Students Learn Sustainable Gardening at Hydroponic Farm

Follow-up Story: Fifty students from Vail, Schurr and Bell Gardens high schools and Bell Gardens Intermediate learned about the importance of soil and new methods for sustainable food gardening when they visited Alegria Farm in Irvine on July 5. BGHS’ GREEN environmental engineering and CHOP culinary arts pathways students and SHS, VHS and BGI gardeners discovered how to grow crops hydroponically without soil, how to grow vegetables on concrete using Gardensoxx and the difference in taste between store-bought and fresh-off-the-vine tomatoes. Photos are available.

Bell Gardens High School students in the school’s Green and CHOP pathways recently collaborated on a beautification project that included developing and building a succulent garden. The project was inspired by the Rise Up for Humanity: Justice for the Forgotten youth conference sponsored by Los Angeles County's Human Relations Commission, which encourages pride in all students’ heritages.

Follow-up Story: Rosario Meneses, a seventh-grader at Montebello Unified’s Eastmont Intermediate School, was recognized July 10 at a Los Angeles Sparks game with a $5,000 scholarship for winning the team’s first-ever #WeAreGirls Inspirational Essay Contest. Students were asked to write 1,000 words about inspirational women in their lives. Photos are available.

Follow-up Story: The Montebello Unified School District hosted its fifth annual Classified Employee Conference at Montebello Intermediate School on May 21 where classified employees learned how to elevate their potential, develop a healthy work-life balance and positively impact students. The workshop topics at this year’s conference included: how passion drives professional growth, paths to a promotion, explaining payroll deductions and retirement benefits, technology innovation, healthy eating, retirement planning, workplace safety, the benefits of being a member of the California Schools Employees Association and how to use meditation, posture and laughter to relieve stress.

Follow-up Story: The Montebello Unified School District will provide free meals through the Seamless Summer Food Service Program for local children who are 1 to 18 years old. Bell Gardens, Montebello, Schurr and Vail high schools, the Applied Technology Center, Greenwood Elementary and Rosewood Park School are serving meals through Friday, July 15. Bell Gardens, Eastmont, La Merced, Macy, Montebello and Suva intermediate schools will serve meals from through Friday, July 29. Media contact: Lindsay Ivins, 909-206-5480 (office) 480-335-3149 (cell)

Follow-up Story: Panda Cares donated nearly 300 lunches for a June 11 end-of-school-year celebration attended by 200 Montebello Unified juniors, their parents and mentors in the College Bound Today program. College Bound Today is a nonprofit organization that coaches students on how to pursue college. Photos are available.

Montebello Unified parents recently received tips on how to help their children prepare for college through a series of workshops at Suva Intermediate School. The Parent to Parent program is a 10-lesson curriculum based on the Padres Promotores de la Educacion program at Santa Ana College. Catered to Montebello Unified, the program teaches parents more about college and career options – and trains them to teach other parents to build a network of knowledge.

Schurr High School is replacing water fountains with water-bottle refilling stations and installing rails to keep lunch lines orderly after students in government classes pitched the ideas to Montebello Unified leaders as part of the school’s Civic Action Project, a project-based learning program. Photos are available.

Follow-up Story: Montebello Unified celebrated more than 2,000 high school students during graduation ceremonies on June 15 and 16 for Bell Gardens, Applied Technology Center, Montebello, Schurr and Vail high schools. Bell Gardens and Schurr each commenced at Weingart Stadium. Vail recognized the graduating class at its amphitheater, Montebello students tossed their tasseled caps at Heaman Field and ATC trumpeted three of its top seniors who are heading off to UCLA. Photos are available.

The California Department of Education has named four Montebello Unified elementary schools Title I Academic Achieving Schools, a recognition of their success in meeting the educational needs of students living at or below poverty level. Bell Gardens, Greenwood, Suva and Washington elementary schools received the recognition on May 25. All four schools received Gold Ribbons from the state in April for model academic programs. Title I is a federal program that provides money to schools to improve performance by disadvantaged students.

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